As a certified mindfulness and performance coach, Melo has the unique ability to bring the best out of the people, and the companies, he works with. With

well over 25 years of experience, his results-based work is grounded in neuroscience, mindfulness, human behaviour, leadership training and other unique tools to help his clients find self-awareness, clarity, focus and ultimately success.

Melo learned to manage highly challenging and stressful situations, build mental endurance and rise above adversity from his life lessons on the road

where he cycled, trekked and travelled over 30,000 kilometers around the planet on his mountain bike. He traversed Africa, Asia, India, Nepal, Europe and North America, along the way he had to overcome many obstacles and demanding encounters, including near-death experiences.

He now shares that deep experience working with many global Fortune 500 companies, CEO’s, managers and directors, and corporate executives, as well as sporting professionals, surgeons, actors, entrepreneurs, thought leaders and other individuals who want to be the absolute best at their craft.

Recently, Melo has had the unique opportunity to coach an Olympic athlete to reach their life-long goals.

During the pandemic, Melo has supported over 75,000 people globally in his seminars and coaching programs. He is also a published (Wiley) producing a

book titled Beating Burnout-Finding Balance which has been released globally. His work has been described as ‘truly transformational’!

Jacqui Clarke has been called ‘Australia’s best kept money secret’. As a personal wealth and money management expert, she has over three decades of experience helping high-net-worth families, individuals and business owners to build, manage and preserve their wealth.

Jacqui is an acclaimed full services financial executive who, after a significant career at the world’s best blue chip accounting firms, went on to co-found the highly successful boutique

accounting and advisory firm Maxima Private in addition to her own consulting business.

Jacqui's mission is simply to help everyone build their financial independence and the ability to handle just about any financially significant challenge life serves up (because it will). She’s passionate about helping people navigate their financial future with confidence - regardless of income.

Jacqui’s book - Stop worrying about money includes everything you need to get your house in order and take back control. It will challenge you to take an honest look at where you’re at, including owning your ‘money mistakes’, and explains the most trusted techniques for successfully managing your personal wealth for peace of mind. It also includes valuable advice about learning how to use your money to build a legacy and look after those you love.

Jacqui's message is a simple one: with careful planning and effort, you can manage your money, so it doesn’t manage you. For a free chapter of Jacqui's book click here https://www.jacquiclarke.me/book

Brian Hartzer is an experienced executive, leadership mentor and investor who is Chairman of Beforepay, an ASX-listed salary advance business, and Reejig (an AI-based HR technology startup). He is also a senior advisor to Quantium, a Sydney-based data science company, and provides strategic advice to a number of other financial services firms. Brian is also an angel investor and advisor to several fintech and technology start-ups.

Brian was the founder and Chairman of 2Be, a home equity lending business focused on over 55s, which was sold to a private investment consortium in July 2023.

Prior to his current roles, Brian was CEO of the Westpac Banking Group from 2015 to 2019. Before his time as Westpac’s CEO, Brian spent 15 years in senior executive roles at major banks in Australia and the UK. This included divisional CEO roles at Westpac, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and ANZ Banking Group. Prior to joining ANZ, Brian spent ten years as a financial services strategy consultant at First Manhattan Consulting Group in New York, Melbourne, and San Francisco.

Brian’s book, The Leadership Star: A Practical Guide to Building Engagement, was published by Wiley

in April 2021.

Nick is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Technology and was just named in Engatica’s 2023 list of the World’s Top 200 Business Innovators. He has been a partner at international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright for over twenty years, spending the last seven years in global technology and innovation leadership roles. His team won the Technology Law Firm of the Year award.

Nick co-created the world’s first AI-enabled privacy chatbot and won the Financial Times newspaper’s Asia Innovator of the Year Award. He is the Co-founder of LawPath, an online legal solution that has served over 300,000 customers.

Nick was on the board of ASX300 company, Integrated Research, for six years and is currently on the boards of the Garvan Foundation, the Vodafone/TPG Foundation and the Sydney Film Festival. He is the host of the popular podcast Web3 Goes Mainstream and the author of the Amazon best-selling books Big Data, Big Responsibilities and Digital Disruption in Australia.

Joseph is a co-founder of Judo Bank and a career international banker with over 35 years of banking experience. Joseph has held executive positions at Lloyds Bank, CIBC World Markets, Citibank, Australian and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) and National Australia Bank (NAB) including as Group Executive/Divisional CEO Business Banking for NAB from 2008 to 2014 where he was responsible for SME, Corporate, Institutional, Financial Institutions, Private Banking and Asia.

Joseph was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland and holds a Master of Science (Finance), an MBA, a Master of Science in International Management (China), a Master of Arts in Contemporary Chinese Studies, a Master of Science in Psychology & Neuroscience of Mental Health and an MBA (Banking) from institutions including the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; London Business School; the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at Kings College, London; and the University of Nottingham in China. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland and a Senior Fellow of FINSIA.

Joseph is the author of four books including “Black Belt – A Masterclass for Start-ups and Entrepreneurs” released in early 2023.

David Hornery is a highly experienced international banker with 30 plus years’ experience across some of Australia’s leading business banks including NAB, ANZ and Macquarie Bank. Most recently (2009-2015), David was Executive General Manager of NAB’s Corporate, Property, Agribusiness, Health, Government and Education divisions, covering 90,000 SME customers. David also chaired NAB Group’s Asia Management Board.

Prior to NAB, David was the CEO of ANZ Asia. In this role David built the foundation for ANZ’s accelerated growth in the region, and led its implementation between 2004 and 2007. David had accountability for 750 staff across 13 countries.

Prior to ANZ at Macquarie Bank, David’s roles included Global Head of Capital Markets and Director of the Proprietary trading division.

David holds a Bachelor of Economics Degree from Sydney University. He has been a Board Member of the Australian Financial Markets Association and Chair of its Dealer accreditation taskforce, a board member of both the Asian Bankers Association, and the European Australian Business Council. In the not-for-profit sector, David is Chairman of The Hornery Institute, a think tank established in 2001 doing world-class research and consulting into Place Making and Community formation.

Elly Johnson is a former Police Officer turned communication specialist, trainer and keynote

speaker. She shines a spotlight on critical elements of robust relationships and healthy

workplaces; speaking truth, building trust and obtaining truthful information.

Elly’s fresh perspective on communication and human behaviour equips people with an

awareness of how to use truth as a superpower. She explores how to apply this knowledge to

develop the confidence to hear, speak, influence or uncover the truth when it matters most.

The subject of truth attraction and lie detection first appeared on Elly’s professional radar when

she joined Victoria Police at the age of 22. She became curious about communication and

interviewing styles and was motivated to understand how to ask more effective questions and

better evaluate truthfulness and credibility in human interactions.

For over two decades, Elly has worked with

individuals, teams and organisations, helping people build skills to; uncover the truth, read human

behaviour, improve communication, ask better questions, strengthen relationships, and reduce

risk.

Elly has built an expansive career that includes consulting with and developing programs for

national security and intelligence agencies as well as teaching global businesses. For more about Elly's program click here.

Will Guidara is the author of the National Bestseller Unreasonable Hospitality, which chronicles the lessons in service and leadership he has learned over the course of his career in restaurants.

He is the former co-owner of Eleven Madison Park, which under his leadership received four stars from the New York Times, three Michelin stars, and in 2017 was named #1 on the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

He is the host of the Welcome Conference, an annual hospitality symposium that brings together like minded people to share ideas, inspire one another, and connect to form community.

A graduate of the hospitality school at Cornell University, he has co-authored four cookbooks, was named one of Crain's New York Business's 40 Under 40, and is the recipient of WSJ Magazine's Innovator Award.

As VP of Stories and Voices at Swell, an emerging audio platform, Deborah has participated in more than 30K conversations, including serving as the host for conversations with global thought leaders, including inventor Steven Wozniak, director Nicole Holofcener, and famous actor and orator Stephen Fry. Deborah was a featured speaker at SXSW, with more than 1500 participants and a lively Q & A about the future of social audio. She has hosting corporate podcasts and live public broadcasts including Get Smart Radio and Pause Podcast for Standard Homeopathy. The latter was a series of live, recorded events in Los Angeles that covered the facts and misconceptions of women’s health and menopause.

Deborah is also the founder of Artists for Literacy, an educational non-profit that empowers low-level readers with access to complex texts through alternative means. Her Songs Inspired by Literature (SIBL) project secured the support of the California State Library and the participation of A-list artists, including Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Tom Waits, and Suzanne Vega. Media coverage has included NPR, BBC, New York Times, and RollingStone. Her Arresting Knowledge news literacy project teaches basic media literacy skills, along with bias training.

Deborah is the co-author of Climbing Out from Under: A Handbook For Heartbreak, available on Amazon. She’s a music composer and producer, with six albums to her name. For more on Deborah, visit her website: www.deborahpardes.com

Karen is an Executive Coach with a depth of business experience from +30 years in the professional services industry, including 23 as a Partner of Deloitte.

Following her completion of her Master of Science in Coaching Psychology, she commenced her second career designing and implementing the Coaching Program for Women Partners at Deloitte.

With over 2,000 coaching hours and as a Professional Certified Coach (ICF), Karen currently provides solution-focused executive coaching to evolving senior leaders, supporting them in achieving their professional goals. She also regularly volunteers with Dress for Success and the Bambuddha Group, providing coaching support for their clients.

Karen most recently published her first book, Be your own leadership coach - self-coaching strategies to lead your way. Her hope is that this will provide more equity to coaching by sharing evidence-based self-coaching practices, which can be used in the moment when your coach is not on hand. Through building your self-coaching strategies you will be better equipped to lead as your best self, improving your wellbeing and that of your teams, organisation, and our communities.

Hazel is a strong believer in ‘together we are more’. In 2019 Hazel had a vision to help start-up businesses start, scale and grow. This vision led to Hazel founding Seedlab Tasmania, an incubator and accelerator program to support start-up Tasmanian agri-businesses to start, scale and grow.

Hazel’s contagious passion combined with the high economic and social impact delivered by the accelerator program drew interest from the Woolworths Group. In 2021, the Woolworths Group committed to $4M of funding to help small businesses and Founders become retail-ready and pitch to national retailers. Seedlab Australia was born.

As Co-Founder and CEO of Seedlab Australia, with her business and life partner Darren West, Hazel leads an executive team of trusted advisors, nurtures a connected community of over 400 Founders and has made dreams real for Australian entrepreneurs.

Prior to Seedlab, Hazel spent most of her career as a curious food scientist working on diverse and award-

winning projects including flavours for dried cheese snacks and gin, converting oysters into sauce and vodka.

In recognition of her success, Hazel was awarded a Churchill Fellowship and Hazel and Darren a Tasmanian Telstra HTC Start-Up Business Award.

Liam strongly believes that the future of work is remote. Through his work in the past decade and more, he has developed a reputation as a highly influential and supportive advocate of the adoption of remote-first management and cultures in organizations around the world.

Guided by an overarching mission to empower both employers and employees to benefit from more collaborative, productive and effective asynchronous work environments, Liam launched time tracking and employee productivity SaaS platform Time Doctor in 2011 with co-founder Rob Rawson.

A prolific and self-assured writer and speaker, Liam is genuinely committed to helping others overcome conventional business wisdom to increase their agility and competitiveness. Since 2017, he has been the co-organizer of the world’s largest conference for building and scaling remote teams, Running Remote. He has openly shared his expertise on the benefits and challenges of flexible, asynchronous and data-driven workforce management in articles for reputable publications like Forbes, Inc, TechCrunch, and Wired.

Lisa launched The Messenger Group in 2001, which has custom-published more than 400 books for companies and individuals and now releases 40 – 60 products per year globally. Lisa has authored and co-authored more than 36 books and become an authority in the start-up scene.

Her passion is to challenge individuals and corporations to change the way they think, take them out of their comfort zone and prove that there is more than one way to do anything. She encourages entrepreneurial spirit, creativity and innovation and lives life to the absolute max.

With fans including Sir Richard Branson, New York Times Best-selling author Bradley Trevor Grieve, and a social media following of well over 800,000 across the Collective Hub platforms, Lisa’s vision is to build a community of like-minded people who want to challenge the status quo and change the world.

Dr Suzi Skinner (PhD) is a published author, researcher, international leadership practitioner and

Managing Director of Roar People - a global leadership consultancy in Sydney and Seattle. Suzi

works with organizations internationally to accelerate change toward more inclusive leadership practices and build cultures of leadership at every level. Suzi’s compelling approach combines the proven evidence base of leadership and executive coaching with fresh perspectives on tapping into the leadership potential of every individual.

Suzi coaches and facilitates at executive and board level in a range of leading international

organizations including Cisco; Dell; Expedia; Microsoft; Kimberly Clark; Ernst & Young; BUPA; Lloyds

International; Stockland; Australian Unity; Google; Pepsico and many more. Her innovative programs

titled “What’s Your Leader Identity?” have been conducted in the USA, Europe, Asia and Australia

and continue to successfully challenge outdated notions of leading.

Suzi’s book: “Build Your Leader Identity – A

Practical Guide to Leading Authentically from Any Position” has sold thousands of copies globally.

Suzi was also awarded the Outstanding Women Leaders Award by the World Women Leadership

Congress (WWLC) for her work in providing leadership development programs for women in India and internationally.

As a strategic advisor and management consultant, Wesley has worked with the CEOs and

leadership teams of publicly listed companies GOOROO (ASX-GOO), mid-size health insurers GMHBA and start-ups Converged Technology and Peggy and Finn. He has also worked as an advisor to President Bill Clinton as a member of the President’s Working Group, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Administration Cabinet Secretary Tessa Jowell as a fellow at the US Embassy in London, and Prince Turki as a member of the senior leadership team at DAR AL

Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Wesley is a leadership coach and board mentor at Criticaleye (UK and Australia), and lectures, chairs student PhD dissertation committees and publishes articles on transformational leadership, strategy and strategic change, organisation behaviour and

change management.

Wesley has a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Science (MSc) in Human Resource Management and Industrial Labour Relations from The Pennsylvania State University. His Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) research at Napier Edinburgh Business School on “Leadership, People and Culture Due Diligence in Mergers & Acquisition, Integration and Restructure” will be published later this year.

Gabrielle Dolan is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker and educator on strategic storytelling and real communication. Her clients include the Obama Foundation, Telstra, EY, Accenture VISA, Australia Post, National Australia
Bank, Amazon and Vodafone.

Gabrielle is the best selling author of six books including Real Communication: How to be you and lead true, a finalist in the Australian Business Leadership Book Awards 2019. Her other titles consist of Magnetic Stories (2021), Stories for Work (2017), Storytelling for Job Interviews (2016), Ignite (2015) and Hooked (2013). Her latest title, Magnetic Stories: Connect with customers and engage employees with brand storytelling was published by Wiley in March 2021.
 

Bringing humanity to the way business people communicate isn’t just a career, it’s a calling. Her dedication to the industry was recognised when Gabrielle was awarded the 2020 Communicator of the Year by the International Association of
Business Communicators Asia Pacific region.

Andrew Griffiths is best described as an entrepreneurial futurist - in other words, he specialises in future-proofing businesses across virtually every industry and in every corner of the planet. With 13 bestselling books sold in 65 countries

(and he has just released his 14th book) and a client base that includes organisations such as the European Union, CBS, Hewlett Packard, Hertz and Telstra, to mention just a few of the 500 organisations he has worked with, he is clearly sought after to provide advice and wisdom for the smallest of businesses to the largest of organisations.

Andrew is able to share his observations, experiences and research from around to world to identify the exact steps any organisation needs to take to become future-proof. He delivers his advice in a down-to-earth, simple and often hilarious way.

Andrew has been a commentator on all things

business for many years for organisations including INC, CBS, Newscorp and Flying Solo. He has created thousands of sharp, relevant and insightful articles, videos and podcast episodes as well as being interviewed hundreds of times by various media around the world. Andrew’s advice is a combination of street-smart wisdom, practical concepts and productive triggers, derived from the hard-learned lessons with his own trial and error, as well as years of close observation and identification of the characteristics shared by both the really successful and the really unsuccessful.

Life insurance specialist, Gary Bennett, has over 35 years’ experience in the industry; working for a number of companies in Australia, Asia, Mexico and the USA. Gary currently heads Hong Kong-based North Star Consulting which provides high-level strategic advice and operational support to life insurance companies, Insurtech, Fintech start-ups and new companies; with particular strength in leadership support, executive management, M&As, restructuring, distribution, products, fund raising and marketing.

Gary is a global citizen with experience in over a dozen countries across cultures and varied business and regulatory environments.

Stephen is a dynamic and results-oriented executive with a strong focus on customers and data-driven decision-making. With a successful career spanning Australia's leading banks, telecommunications, and payments industries, he has continuously disrupted and innovated in these sectors. Stephen's expertise extends across various fields, including travel, publishing, financial services, telecommunications, and transportation/mobility.

As a serial entrepreneur, Stephen has significantly contributed to the fintech, sports-tech, community, and mobility sectors. His unwavering dedication to customer-centric strategies and data utilisation has been instrumental in his success. Throughout his corporate and entrepreneurial journey, he has gained valuable international experience, having lived and worked in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the USA, and Mexico.

Currently, Stephen is the co-founder of Zipidi, a company specialising in risk management, strategy, insurance, regulatory advice, and technology for the micromobility industry. Zipidi collaborates with manufacturers, retailers, electric scooter/bike rental operators, major organisations, and regulators worldwide.

Stephen's diverse background and deep expertise make him an invaluable asset in driving innovation and growth in the ever-evolving landscape of financial services and mobility.

Marina Brbot Marina Brbot is an award-winning photographer, Key-Note speaker and author of Australia’s very own inspirational book 'Because She Can'.

Marina has recently also followed up with her sought-after self-help book and memoir, Choose to
Climb Dare to Fly and is soon to release her third book, 'And So He Did'.

Sharing her vivid journey and a commitment to inspire, connecting through emotion and hope, Marina is dedicated to producing heartfelt speeches to audiences of men and women. Her work has raised much awareness of the importance of connecting with one another, mastering your own emotions and knowing that collectively we can make a positive difference in the world.

“ I do what I do for those wanting to make a change, get off the hamster wheel of life, and understand
that living is one thing, wholehearted living is so much more.”

Named an “oracle of remote work” by CNBC and included in The Forbes Future of Work 50, Darren is a recognized visionary in organizational design.

Darren is VP, Workplace Design and Remote Experience at Andela. He leads at the intersection of people operations, marketing, and strategic communication. His career is defined by leading remote teams, charting remote transformations, connecting nonobvious dots, and architecting inclusive cultures. He holds a Guinness World Record in publishing, and authored GitLab’s Remote Playbook and “Living the Remote Dream: A Guide To Seeing the World, Setting Records, and Advancing Your Career.”

Darren has pioneered the Head of Remote role, been interviewed by Harvard Business School, CNBC, CNN, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Fortune, Digiday, Business Insider, and more.

Chelsea is an international well-being speaker, ambassador for mental health charities including RUOK? and The Gidget Foundation, and author of ‘The Mindful High Performer’. Her passion is helping busy minds reset, recharge and navigate the challenges of everyday life.

Featured on Channel 9, ABC News, Marie Claire and Women’s Health, and with high-profile clients including CBA, eBay, Uber, Macquarie, Estee Lauder, Dexus Property and Google, Chelsea helps empower people to take control of their mental well-being and be more efficient, resilient and happy.

Recruitment Advisor Greg Savage is the author of the best-selling book "The Savage Truth" and principal of the online recruitment learning platform the Savage Recruitment Academy.

With a career spanning four decades, Greg is a founder of 4 highly successful businesses, he is a trusted advisor and respected voice across the global recruitment and professional services industries, and a regular keynote speaker at conferences around the world.

Dr Kristy Goodwin studies what it takes to thrive in the digital world. Kristy translates the science of digital productivity and wellbeing into realistic strategies so individuals can achieve peak-performance in a digital world.

She’s worked with large and small organisations to help employees, leaders and teams ignite peak-performance in their professional and personal lives, without proposing you eradicate email or cancel Zoom meetings.

Dr Kristy is an author, researcher and is frequently called on by the media for her expert opinion on how technology is shaping our focus, physical health and mental wellbeing, without proposing ‘digital abstinence’. Having presented to global audiences, Kristy provides research-based, yet realistic strategies to boost performance and productivity in an always-on world. Kristy wants to help you tame your digital behaviours so you can flourish online and offline.

Margie Warrell is a leadership authority with extensive global experience supporting leaders and businesses in transformative change agendas.

A Senior Partner in Korn Ferry’s Board, CEO Succession and Leadership practice, Margie draws on her international background in Fortune 500 business, psychology and coaching to help leaders accelerate change, incubate innovation and cultivate more forward-leaning cultures.

Raised in rural Victoria, Australia and now based in Washington DC, Margie has lived and worked around the world (from Papua New Guinea to Singapore) and brings a global lens and sharp insights to address the complex challenges facing leaders and organizations today. Margie has been engaged by leading organizations (such as NASA, Google, Visa, Morgan Stanley, Johnson & Johnson) to embolden braver leadership and foster more innovative and agile ‘cultures of courage.’

A Forbes columnist who sits on the advisory board of Forbes School of Business, Margie is also regular media contributor (Today Show, CNN, Bloomberg, WSJ). Her doctoral research in human development and organizational change informs her work in cultivating more inclusive enterprises that unleash the value of diversity and advance more women to top tables.

Outside work, Margie enjoys adventure travel and hiking. Her intrepid spirit inspired her summit of Mt Kilimanjaro with her husband and four teenage children.

Paul is a facilitator, coach, change consultant and

researcher.

After completing a PhD in Psychology, Paul embarked upon a corporate career with BP plc, leading teams and businesses in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Australia and Japan.

Paul has been working as a coach and consultant since 2007, based in Sydney Australia, and has over 4,500 coaching hours working with individuals, groups and teams.

Paul conducts research on a regular basis and has published more than a dozen academic articles and book chapters. He has authored six books Leading Change: How Successful Leaders Approach Change Management, Coaching in Three Dimensions: Meeting the Challenges of a Complex World and The Tao of Dialogue, Coaching Systemically: Five Ways of Thinking About Systems, The Team Leader Instruction Manual and The Wise Leader.

Paul has taught coaching at the Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong, is an Honorary Research Associate at Oxford Brookes University, and established the Association for Coaching in Australia.

Vanessa is the CEO of Next Evolution Performance - a global high-performance coaching business helping leaders and teams to maximize performance AND to decrease their overall effort to ensure that success, and therefore profitability, is sustainable.

Put simply it’s You. At your best. Always.

Vanessa has over 20 years of experience in the financial services and health and fitness professions. She was the Head of Financial Adviser Distribution for Dimensional Fund Advisors for Australia and New Zealand, with assets under management growing from $1B to over $9B during her tenure of over 8 years. Prior to that she held senior sales roles as an Associate Director with Macquarie Bank.
 

Vanessa also qualified as a group fitness instructor whilst completing her undergraduate university studies and has always taught classes on top of her professional career. She has been with Fitness First for 20 years as a senior group fitness instructor and mentor.

She has a Master of Science in Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health - with Distinction, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London.

Margaret has a love of family and a passion for life. After spending over 10 years across the sporting and media sectors and then 30 years in the airline industry, Margaret followed her passion and volunteered for My Room Children’s Cancer Charity which raises awareness and funds to support families, fund clinical care and invest in research that will hopefully lead to a cure for all Childhood Cancers.

Margaret has a plethora of knowledge about the issues of Childhood Cancer and the impact it has not only on the children themselves but also on their families. Harnessing this knowledge she embarked on the job she describes as her lifelong passion.

Margaret was appointed My Room’s first full-time executive in its 30-year history, where she volunteered for over 20 years. She feels privileged and honoured to be in this role, now leading a strong all-volunteer-led committee to the next level so that they can continue to make a difference in the lives of so many children and families affected by childhood cancer.

Margaret dedicates many hours to speaking and fundraising to make the 100% cure a reality! Margaret is mother to 3 sons and fur puppy, Molly.

Margaret was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the community through charitable initiatives.

Dr Simone Scovell is the Founder and CEO of TOTIUM, a multi-national B2B med-tech and health services company delivering quality, affordable and tailored preventative healthcare solutions for some of the world’s most iconic companies.

She is a Specialist Occupational Physician and Fellow of Medicine of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians who brings a wealth of experience in commercial, clinical and health data governance.

Simone has advised the Federal Government on healthcare and data governance, serving as the Health Minister’s Nominee Representative on the Board of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

Simone holds triple degrees in Medicine, Surgery and Medical Science (University of Sydney), is a Master of Occupational and Environmental Health (Monash) and is completing an Associate Degree in Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (Stanford University School of Medicine, USA).

As an elite basketballer, Simone won four WNBL titles and represented Australia. She was voted Doctor of the Year by her peers in 2005, her final year working as a Resident Surgeon in Cardiothoracic Surgery at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney.

Dr Kirstin Ferguson is an author, columnist and company director. In 2023 Kirstin became a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to business, and to gender equality.

One of Australia’s most prominent leadership experts, Kirstin is also making a global impact, with UK based Thinkers50 naming her one of the world’s top 30 “Thinkers to Watch” and she was shortlisted for the Distinguished Award in Leadership in 2021.

Kirstin’s career includes three decades of leadership experience including a previous appointment by the Australian Prime Minister as Acting Chair and Deputy Chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Kirstin has previously been the CEO of a global consulting firm, was a senior executive at a leading corporate law firm and spent nearly 10 years as an Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force.

Kirstin’s second book, Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership has been described by #1 NYT bestselling author, Adam Grant, as “A timely, actionable book on the virtues that every great leader needs to learn.” Kirstin writes a popular weekly column for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age called Got a Minute? answering the nation’s work, leadership, and culture questions. She also contributes to the Financial Review.

A passionate advocate for women, diversity, and inclusion, Kirstin was responsible for sparking a viral social media campaign called #CelebratingWomen, and is the coauthor of award-winning book, Women Kind: Unlocking the power of women supporting women.

Lisa Barron created her eponymous label in 1983 after 2 years of fashion study in Perth, Western Australia. With $500 and a portable sewing machine, Lisa crossed the country and set up a garage business in Melbourne.

Designing, sewing and selling the collections to iconic fashion retailers through the 80's and 90's saw the label become a strong player in the Australian fashion industry.

Lisa Barron has been invited to participate in all the major fashion shows and festivals starting with the Australian Designer Collection Shows in the 80's, dressing supermodels such as Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer and Helena Christensen through to every Melbourne Fashion Festival since its inception in 1992.

The label is proudly made in Australia and Lisa is a strong supporter of local manufacturing.

Adrian Hondros has over 35 years’ experience in corporate life across Financial Services in Australia & Asia and the Residential Construction Industry in Australia. Mr Hondros was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of Porter Davis Homes in Melbourne and was previously the Executive General Manager of Commonwealth Private Bank in Australia and Asia, CEO of St Andrew’s Australia and General Manager of NAB Private Bank for Australia and Asia.

He has been a director of several financial services organisations, including Director of Commonwealth Private Limited, Chairman of Commonwealth Private Limited, Trustee Director of Commonwealth Bank’s Group Super Board and Chair of its Investment Committee.

In 2022 Mr Hondros launched Hondros Consulting specialising in Leadership, Strategy & Governance and is in collaboration with Club of United Business in Australia and Boston Global in Boston, USA.

One of Australia’s ‘Keynote Speakers of Excellence’, Louise is recognized as a Top 30 Global Guru in both Body Language and Communication and is awarded

Internationally for her contribution to Women in Business.

Her skills as a Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming pull together her academic study and a decade of professional performance on the European opera stage to put her in a league of her own. These blended skills bring powerful observation that elicits discernible, positive change to handle presentations, conquer media and glide through high-stake engagements with poise and ease.

Her techniques will help you build confidence, instill

trust and create influence by ‘being heard’ in every environment you face.

Louise is a regular contributor to print, radio and television media, appearing regularly on

Channel 7 and lauded for her expertise and humour.

Steve Faktor is an innovator, futurist and digital commerce expert. He is Managing Director of IdeaFaktory, which helps companies accelerate growth by partnering with top startups, developing new innovations, and restructuring for growth. As a senior executive at American Express, Citi and MasterCard, Steve has created several $100M+ businesses and deployed multiple enterprise innovation programs. He is author of Econovation, which critics describe as “a fascinating, erudite, bitingly funny, well researched, and…important book“ about capitalizing on the end of consumerism and rise of 'producerism'.

Steve is a top-ranked global keynote speaker, who has keynoted major events for CFO Magazine, New York University, Harvard, PDMA, Frost & Sullivan, Rocketspace, New Media Expo and numerous corporations. He also leads workshops, ideation and training sessions based on his proprietary 4C’s of Innovation(TM) methodology. Steve writes provocative articles on innovation and entrepreneurship for Forbes and Harvard Business Review and is one of 160 original Linkedin Influencers (along with luminaries like Richard Branson).

Steve graduated from the NYU Stern School of Business and lives in New York City. He actively supports Junior Achievement and several Thai restaurants in his neighbourhood.

Karen Hollenbach is the Founding Director of Think Bespoke. As a LinkedIn specialist trainer and strategist she offers a unique perspective on how to get more from your time on LinkedIn.

Karen works closely with private, public and government organisations and social enterprises across Australia. She co-facilitated the LinkedIn workshop for Monash Business School from 2020-2022 and has worked with State Library Victoria, Grattan Institute, Dementia Australia, legalsuper and trained the RMIT University careers team.

Karen is a Company Director, Registered VIT Teacher and holds a Graduate Diploma Education, Bachelor of Business Marketing and a Diploma of Management.

As a Digital Minimalist, Karen enjoys many analogue activities away from a screen including reading, time in nature and deep conversations with friends and family.

"I’m a study in contrasts. I’m first on the floor for an

Abba song, love TV costume dramas, can eat

chocolate for days. I was a stage mum when my girl

was little, and I love a great haircut and anything

Hamptons.

I’m also one of the only women in Australia with their

own range of house plans in the male dominated

building industry. I’m one of a handful (perhaps the

lone unicorn!) who founded their own property

business over a decade ago and has created not just

forever homes or great investments for clients, but over $50 million in sales.

Real estate got under my skin early. I joined my

parents’ agencies fresh from school, rising to selling

and managing properties. Then at 40, as a mum of

two who was nailing, but not in love with, a sales career, I wanted more freedom and to make more impact.

So in 2011 Carnelian Projects - servicing Newcastle, the Hunter Valley, Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast - was born. What sets us apart is we don’t deal in older homes. Strictly new builds. With over 30 years’

experience in the property, sales and customer service industries, I’m passionate about helping people build, from first home owners with house and land packages to investors and those ready for their forever home. I also specialise in forensically checking build contracts with an honest eye."